Nicholas Sabre was the dashing son of an Earl whose chosen vocation was to carouse and whore all over London of the 1860s. Nicholas did not want to waste his time on love or marriage, but one day Nicholas did fall in love. And when his love was slandered by another aristocrat, he challenged the man to a duel. The duel ended with Nicholas' opponent dying and Nicholas watching the woman he thought he loved cry over the other man's body. She had only used Nicholas to try to make the other man jealous. He was sent to New Zealand for the killing, and was allowed to live out his days in exile rather than in prison only because of his father's influence. Nicholas toiled for years to be able to buy some land to start his own sheep farm. He also toiled to shut down his mind and heart so he would not have to feel the pain inside. Never again would he allow himself to love.

Summer O'Neile grew up believing that her mother was the wife of an important aristocrat. She sustained herself with the belief that one day her mother would send for her and remove her from the loveless household she lived in with a sour old-maid. Then Summer's mother died. And with her death, the realization that her mother was not the wife, but the mistress of a Lord Pimbersham. Summer struck out to make Lord Pimbersham pay for what he had done to her and her mother. She was not quite sure how she was going to do that, but she was going to all the same. Becoming a maid in Pimbersham's house, she befriended another maid named Sophie.

Sophie wanted to try for a better life and got a marriage contract to a sheep farmer in New Zealand named "Nicholas Sabre." Before Sophie left, she confronted Pimbersham with the fact that she was pregnant with his child and wanted money to help support it. In a rage Pimbersham struck Sophie down. Believing she was dying, Sophie gave the marriage contract to Summer and told her to run before Pimbersham set his cap on bedding the young girl. Before Summer could leave, Pimbersham tried to rape her. As she struggled to get away, Pimbersham accidentally fell down a staircase. Summer believed she killed him. Taking the marriage contract, Summer headed off to New Zealand to escape prison. She found Nicholas in his run-down house, and the two started arguing from the get-go.

Nicholas claimed he never signed a marriage contract, but agreed to let Summer stay until after sheering. Then she would be taken back to town and shipped off the island. Nicholas definitely did not want any company, and he certainly did not want a wife. Although, the longer Summer stayed, the harder Nicholas found it to keep his heart from feeling anything. And the longer Summer stayed, the more she found herself attracted to Nicholas.

DREAM FEVER is a classic romance of two people who cannot deny their hearts. I found myself laughing when Nicholas and Summer would argue, constantly denying out-loud what they felt inside. I also found my heart aching for the hurt that the world had inflicted on Nicholas. A hurt that made him wary of ever knowing the happiness that love can bring. This is a story that sucks you in right from the beginning and makes you eat up every word down the journey the lovers take to find happiness with one another.

Reviewed By: Kathy Martin
© August 2004